1. Field of the Invention
The invention is drawn to an apparatus and method for dispensing biodegradable soil amendment materials and improving soil quality.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Excessive nutrient losses cost producers substantial income, and severely degrade air and water quality in many watersheds with intensive agricultural production. Research has shown that nutrient losses from fertilizers applied to farmland are minimized if the fertilizer is incorporated beneath the soil surface. As a result, dry fertilizers have commonly been incorporated in tilled agricultural systems, but this has not been applicable to perennial pastures and other no-till systems that permit only very limited disturbance of the soil surface. Subsurface application of fertilizer (poultry litter, etc.) in no-till systems can theoretically be achieved by cutting narrow trenches (generally approximately 2-6 cm wide and 4-12 cm deep) in the soil surface and placing fertilizer in the trenches before covering them with soil. However, this has never been a practical option because no one has previously devised a machine that is capable of taking bulky soil amendments that have highly variable particle size and directing a consistent steady flow of the material into such small trenches. Poultry litter (manure mixed with bedding material) is a good example of a common fertilizer amendment that has very inconsistent composition, with particle size ranging from microscopic to large chunks (>50 cm diameter), debris such as dead bird carcasses, and generally low (but variable) moisture content.